Mountain Skills & Guided Adventures…

There is often a combination of factors drawing backcountry skiers to a particular place. Some of these factors may include landscape, environment, snow amounts, terrain, history, people, etc. The pull is sometimes so powerful that we just keep going back! For several reasons, Mallard Lodge has had this effect ever since we first visited in 2016. This beautiful modern lodge in the Canadian Rockies is 75km Southeast of Valemount BC adjacent to Jasper National Park. The remoteness of this area creates a sense of exclusivity that is unparalleled. The cozy heli-access lodge is comfortable and the surrounding terrain very alpine; it includes many ski peaks, glacier skiing, as well as good tree skiing. We look forward to being back there this coming winter February 18-25, 2024. We still have a few open spots on this guided and catered trip. Contact us if interested and see link in bio for more details.
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As the boreal winter approaches, we are getting increasingly excited about all our scheduled backcountry touring adventures. We have a great stack this year and look forward to skiing with many of you. If you are still looking to join one of our winter adventures, now is the time! Avalanche courses are seeing a spike in interest, so are local day touring programs. Over the next few weeks, we will be showcasing select upcoming trips with spaces. We start with these gorgeous photos from the land of the rising sun. Many of you will attest that the Japow magic is unique and more than worth it. Can you spot the skier in the first image? There are not many places where you can ski through this much snow with speed. The combination of ski quality, unique mountain culture, exceptional food, and the overwhelming selection of hot springs, are the attractions and part of our daily routine there. If you are interested in this one of kind ski experience, get in touch, we still have spaces on our upcoming trips to Hokkaido Jan 25-30 & Feb 1-6, 2024. See link in bio for details. Wishing you a great transition into the boreal winter, kampai!
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Summer reflection, part four: transition. Here is a selection from some September trips. As you can see in these images fall is in the air! Cues that a new season is underway are becoming increasingly more obvious: dimming light, longer shadows, vegetation color, new snow up high, etc. The last one is particularly telling about the current situation in the mountains. Like many of you, we are really looking forward to the upcoming winter season. All our trips have been updates on the website. We still have spaces on many upcoming trips and courses. Get in touch and let us know what you are hoping to accomplish this coming winter. Thank-you and enjoy this special transition time. Thanks to @jmajorossy for his help and some of these photos!
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Summer reflection, part three: flexibility. Here is a selection from various August trips. The first one is indeed dramatic and reflective of how close we were to some of the forest fires in August. It was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time! The photo was taken during an alpine start to climb Golden Hinde Mountain on Vancouver Island. Despite being 10kms away, this fire was not progressing at the time and Parks officials kept the area open to the public. Despite the increase in forest fires, we have been able to mange our programs by building flexibility. This has allowed our scheduled programs to take place in similar alternative locations further away from forest fires. This dynamic process creates uncertainty in our programing however, with flexibility, it will always be possible to find a similar area to carry out intended trips. As you can see in these photos, British Columbia is blessed with many amazing wilderness areas. Enjoy these pics and thanks to all the wildland firefighters who spend a great deal of time on the front lines to help keep our communities safe, you guys’ rock!
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Summer reflection, part two: high season. Here is a nice selection from July. If you are like us and believe in climate change, you will have noticed that July is becoming more favorable than August for summer mountaineering. The combination of more consistent smoke in the air and quickly deteriorating glacier conditions in August are sure signs of this trend. Unfortunately, this is a hard trend to predict, and it will always vary somewhat from year to year. The beauty of what we do is that we can move programs to more favorable locations depending on conditions. Flexibility will be an increasingly important variable as mountain conditions evolve in the future. Seize the moment!
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Summer reflection, part 1: inspiration. Wow, long time no posts! Inspiration is sometimes to be desired but, in this case, it was the social media director’s fault! He was too busy climbing guiding and spending time with his family. The director of operations had a good chat with him last week and we are rectifying the situation. This kind of internal operation dialogue (literally!) is surprisingly easy when all these roles are handled by the same person! Enough said, we have had a super fun and busy summer in Western Canada. Enjoy these beautiful early summer moments and stay tuned for more cool summer photos.
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Summer arrived early this year with warm weather and dry conditions seizing various parts of Western Canada. Like most of you, we have moved onto summer activities by now, Yahoo! We have been rock climbing locally and abroad for over a month already, we will be sharing some photos of these adventures with you soon. We wanted to share one last ski post before fully embracing summer. These photos are from our European ski programs last April. We spent two weeks in the West Alps taking different groups on classic tours such as the Haute Route between Chamonix and Zermatt and on a unique Monte Rosa Ski Peaks program. Ski conditions were reportedly quite lean in the Alps last winter. However, as you can see in these photos, we enjoyed some good turns and had a blast while soaking in the rich mountain culture of the Alps. Thanks to esteemed colleague and friend Stefano @granparadisoguide for his support and our amazing guests for keeping the stoke high and building fond memories. Enjoy these fun ski photos and let us know if you would like to join a trip next winter. We will be going back to Japan, select backcountry lodges, a few remote basecamps, “the Yukon”, and Norway. Get in touch for details and stay tuned for our seasonal newsletter coming soon. Have a fantastic summer!
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Orchestrating multiple ski trips in various domestic mountain ranges is fun and stimulating. As you can see in our recent posts, March 2023 was action packed! On the tails of our Terrace basecamp, we quickly transitioned from the BC Northwest Coast to the Canadian Rockies. On the menu next was the classic Wapta ski traverse. The Wapta terrain is heavily glaciated, contains numerous alpine ski peaks, and is supported by a network of rustic mountain huts. One of the best and most accessible hut-to-hut ski traverses in Canada, a must do! Enjoy these photos and thanks to our awesome Penticton crew for such a successful trip!
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Remote backcountry basecamps are one of our favorites! It also happens to be one of our specialties! The exclusivity, the remoteness, the bonding that comes with camping in the wilderness with friends, all contribute to making this style of ski touring very memorable. These photos are from our March 2023 basecamp near Terrace BC. This area of the Northwest Coast of British Columbia boasts all the elements required for a successful basecamp; ski peaks, good tree skiing, glacier skiing, etc. As in all successful adventures, our fun and adventurous group not only had a blast but made this experience memorable.
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As our Canadian Winter winds down, we finally get a chance to reflect on the amazing trips we have had the pleasure to experience. We will be posting some of the winter’s highlights over the next few weeks starting with this one. As you can see in these photos, our Burnie Glacier Chalet ski week last February was one for the books. This area of the BC Coast Mountains never ceases to amaze with its deep rugged valleys, imposing summits, stunning glaciation, and of course amazing ski touring! Enjoy these few snaps and let us know if you would like to join our next trip there, we are planning a return in March 2025. Thanks to our amazing group, chef, guides and of course our host!
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